Friday, December 30, 2011

Obama's solution vs American Needs

What’s new Today

Our #1 story shows us the USA is still a great country.Americans are much more interested in growth and opportunity than in redistribution.#2 talks about Iran and its saber rattling.#3 looks at the story about Nancy Pelosi’s daughters comments that her mother wants to retire but her donors don’t want her to.#4 is appropriate for the coming banning of the standard 100 watt light bulb.

1.Voters want Growth, Not Redistribution

"A 2008 election widely regarded as heralding a shift toward the more government-friendly public sentiment of the New Deal and Great Society eras seems to have yielded just the reverse."So writes William Galston, Brookings Institution scholar and deputy domestic adviser in the Clinton White House, in the New Republic. Galston, one of the smartest political and policy analysts around, has strong evidence for this conclusion.

He cites a recent Gallup poll showing that WHILE 82 PERCENT OF AMERICANS THINK IT'S EXTREMELY OR VERY IMPORTANT TO "GROW AND EXPAND THE ECONOMY" and 70 percent say it's similarly important to "increase equality of opportunity for people to get ahead," ONLY 46 PERCENT SAY IT'S IMPORTANT TO "REDUCE THE INCOME AND WEALTH GAP BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR" and 54 percent say this is only somewhat or not important.

In addition, by a 52 to 45 percent margin, Americans see the gap between the rich and the poor as an acceptable part of the economic system rather than a problem that needs to be fixed. In 1998, during the high-tech economic boom, Americans took the opposite view by the same margin.

As Galston notes, these findings suggest that OBAMA'S MUCH PRAISED SPEECH AT OSAWATOMIE, KANSAS, DECRYING INEQUALITY, "MAY WELL REDUCE HIS CHANCES OF PREVAILING IN A CLOSE RACE." Class warfare politics, as I have noted, hasn't produced a Democratic presidential victory in a long, long time.

Obama and the left see the pie as fixed and therefore distribution is the only issue.In fact, even though the rich have gotten richer over the past 30 years, so has everyone else.

2.Iran’s Threat to Close Straits of Hormuz

…Iran's navy does not have the size for a sustained physical blockade of the Strait, but DOES HAVE MINE-LAYING AND MISSILE CAPABILITY TO WREAK SOME HAVOC, ANALYSTS SAID.

"It wouldn't be a cakewalk" for Iran, said Caitlin Talmadge, a George Washington University professor who has written about the Strait of Hormuz. "IF TEHRAN REALLY WANTED TO CAUSE TROUBLE, IT COULD."

But the BAHRAIN-BASED U.S. FIFTH FLEET IS NEARBY AND KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON IRAN'S ACTIVITIES IN THE STRAIT. Mine-laying or missile activity would not go undetected and would likely generate a U.S. response.

The Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday that "any disruption will not be tolerated." That came after Iran's navy chief said closing the Strait of Hormuz "is really easy... or as Iranians say, it will be easier than drinking a glass of water." ..

Iran would be fools to do this.It would supply the rationale to bomb and take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities just before they become a nuclear power.

3.Pelosi is staying, but not for the Children’s Sake

Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of House Minority Leader and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told Big Government this week that her mother wants to leave Congress–and that she remains in Washington only at the behest of her campaign donors.

During a telephone interview, Ms. Pelosi–speaking from a friend’s home in New York City–described her mother’s predicament:

SHE WOULD RETIRE RIGHT NOW, IF THE DONORS SHE HAS DIDN’T WANT HER TO STAY SO BADLY. They know she wants to leave, though. They think she’s destined for the wilderness. She has very few days left. She’s 71, she wants to have a life, she’s done. It’s obligation, that’s all I’m saying.

What is the definition of a political gaffe?It’s when a politician tells the truth.Here it is a politician’s daughter.Pelosi is staying for her “DONORS!!!!!”She didn’t say for the children or even her constituents, but the people who donate money to her.This does seem to coincide with Karl Rove’s prediction that she and Harry Reid will leave their leadership roles in 2012.

4.Beating the Man

This is just too good.

Many of you know that in a few days the federal ban on conventional incandescent light bulbs will go into effect. And while House Republicans included a provision in a recent spending bill that will block funding for the ban's enforcement, it's said that it will have little effect; manufacturers have prepared for the new standards and will no doubt abide by the law. So does this mean we'll be forced to buy more expensive LED (light emitting diode) or CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs, the latter being those squiggly things said to be loaded with mercury? Not if we follow the lead of German businessman Siegfried Rotthaeuser.

After the European Union banned conventional incandescent bulbs, Rotthaeuser's entrepreneurial spirit was sparked. He started selling another product: heatballs.

What's a heatball? According to this Teutonic Knight of Freedom and Light, it is a "small heating device" that compensates for the loss of heat a home experiences when conventional light bulbs are swapped for more energy efficient ones.

At his English-version website, Rotthaeuser points out the convenience of his invention, writing, "A HEATBALL® is not a light bulb, but fits into the same socket!"

He then touts the new product as "The most original invention since the electric light bulb!" and explains, "Although a heatball is technically very similar to a light bulb, it is a heater rather than a source of light." Elaborating, he also states, "By using heatballs, the heating effort of a normal house is effectively assisted. A heatball is a source of heat. Or do you use your toaster as a desk lamp?"

A businessman with a conscience, however, Rotthaeuser also believes in truth in advertising. He thus is forthcoming about a certain unintended byproduct of his heating element, writing, "During its use as a heater, HEATBALLS have an unavoidable emission of light in the visible spectrum." Pity that. But if heatballs are anything at all like incandescent light bulbs, they should be very efficient little space heaters, indeed.